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Briard: A Novel"I don’t have a Briard, but I do have a dog to whom I’m deeply attached. This beautiful little book made me understand more about what that attachment means and why it’s so special. The story of the Briard who serves in WWI is great on interesting historical detail (there really were dogs trained to deliver messages across no man’s land) and it’s a riveting read but its real brilliance is in showing how sensitive dogs and people are to each other. The hero Briard is always more astute to what the human characters are up to than their fellow humans, and has a disconcerting habit of asking tricky questions about human behaviour as seen from a dog’s perspective. I don’t want to make it sound cutesy - it’s very far from that - but it’s lovely to enjoy the company of a thoughtful canine and see its take on the Great War, romance, jealousy and the end of the aristocracy. Feels like quite a Russian novel - lots of soulfulness, philosophy and country houses - but I don’t think Tolstoy wrote anything as a dog! Fab book, highly recommended."
Amazon reviewer "This is a well written, engaging and moving book told from the perspective of a Briard, a large herding dog originally from France, and is set in that country during the First World War. I liked it much more than I thought I would. I was initially sceptical because a novel set during the horrors of the trenches from the perspective of a dog could so easily be kitsch or trite. I also remain to be convinced by Timothy Morton’s description of animals as ‘nonhuman people’ which has informed Steve Bradshaw’s approach (although sympathetic to Morton’s call for solidarity between all living things).
However, given that I shed a tear or three at a performance of 'War Horse' at the National Theatre and wholly enjoyed 'The Man I Became' by Belgian Flemish author Peter Verhelst, in part narrated by a gorilla, I decided to give 'Briard: A Novel' a try. In all of these works the anthropomorphism is troubling but that contradiction, if developed intelligently, has deeper points to make, of course. Bradshaw understands this very well and it is the reason for reading his novel: the Briard hero of the story, Serges, is a well-developed and sensitive character but also very much a Briard dog, a breed widely known to be intelligent, fearless, loyal and protective. This interrogation of Serge’s character and motives, and a detailed understanding of how the dog’s natural characteristics determine his outlook, such as his highly developed sense of smell, for example, are the novel’s main attraction for me. The story is also well told, funny and sweet in parts, full of fascinating historical detail, and well-paced, particularly in the second half when Serges is sent to the trenches to work. I highly recommend." Amazon reviewer Much has been written about the stoicism and bravery of men who fought in World War I and deservedly so. Less has been written about the dogs who served their masters bravely and faithfully on both sides of the conflict and who most certainly deserve their place in this pantheon of heroes.
This is a beautifully crafted novella about a Briard conscripted into the French army. Inspired by a true story and told in his own words, we follow Serges into the carnage of war on the front line. It’s a truly moving and humble tribute to man’s best friend." Amazon reviewer "I was drawn to this book as a Briard owner. I think the author has captured the Briard personality brilliantly. Intelligent, loyal, intuitive and independent. History that should not be forgotten."
Amazon reviewer "A wonderful account told in the dog's voice, showing how faithful and heroic this breed was as couriers and saving lives of soldiers given up for dead in the dreadful trench warfare of the First World War. The author shows his own love and deep understanding of the unusual breed while taking his reader on a deftly told account of that war with a spell binding plot. Through the dog's chance work for the enemy, questions arise about values and our own species' use of arms."
Amazon reviewer "Sometimes we forget the work animals did in the war. This shows the courage and intelligence in WW1."
Amazon reviewer BreakthroughProducer & presenter. BBC Radio London "Steve Bradshaw's Breakthrough on Radio London...beats anything on Radio One..."
B. Radley Letter to Cream Magazine 1972 "I must mention Steve Bradshaw's Breakthrough - in which I took part recently - simply because this is the kind of free, open-ended music and talk programme Radio 3 desperately needs and which is never likely to take root there. Imagine the implications of the freedom to close down the show just when you feel like it or to juxtapose Balinese music and the Beach Boys..."
Tim Souster, The Listener (1971) "...the nearest thing to a New York FM show, with Charlie Gillett and others dropping in, and everybody being rather more intelligent than they liked to seem."
Richard North, The Listener "Breakthrough - the rock magazine, for example, produced by Mr Steve Bradshaw, aged 23, and described by him as "a rock journalists co-operation", lives with a distinct and distinguished coterie reputation, a radio near-equivalent of the American magazine Rolling Stone."
Nicholas de Jongh, The Guardian (1971) "Many thanks for your show. It makes a refreshing change from the old stereotyped 'not one word that's not on the script' show."
Listener's Letter "He had to fight at first to get his present three hours minimum, and the almost total editorial freedom... Breakthrough accepts calls and puts them straight through to the studio... on all other British radio programmes calls are recorded several days before transmission... People in this country do not expect to ring up a BBC radio station and get a friendly, let alone a sympathetic reply. The historical dominance of the BBC as a monolithic, highly structured, organisation governed as much by managerial and financial stringency as by creative ability has produced an aura of an elite of professional broadcasters with those who (are forced to) merely look and listen. You can submit a recipe for meringue tart: you can seldom go beyond that. Except in Breakthrough. Before the show Steve Bradshaw will have asked several people to come and talk. Most of them do. Others will turn up unexpectedly. The organisation of the show is very simple: just a group of people sitting round a table, with microphones, turntables, tapes etc. They start at 7.45 and go on until everybody feels they have said enough (generally about 12). Nobody interviews the guests; they just talk. Sometimes it doesn't work: most times it does, like last week when Adrian Mitchell and Andy Roberts did a marvellous programme together."
Time Out "Have you heard Breakthrough, Steve Bradshaw's rock/chat extravaganza on Radio London? It's brilliant, amateurish, topical, subversive, infuriating - and why isn't it on three nights a week?"
Myles Palmer, Ink 1971 "A place to hear underground voices, or at least voices that are less overground than used in radio, is Radio London's Breakthrough on Tuesday evenings. Steve Bradshaw plays music and chats away in the cheerful mumbles that passes for speech in these parts."
Observer 1972 "...I enjoyed it more than any other programme I've listened to for ages. You all seem so relaxed and friendly..."
Ruari Wilson Listener's Letter "...unsurpassed on British radio..."
Rick Wilson Listener's Letter "...you play the best sounds...you know there wasn't anything after John Peel's Perfumed Garden..."
Jock Sylvan Listener's Letter "...ultra-relaxed atmosphere...a programme that could never be exactly repeated... so obviously, positively LIVE..."
Martyn Parker, Listener's Letter "...the only approximation we have in this country to a community station... I was amazed at the piece of tape you played last night featuring the Dead being themselves...... "
Kathy, Listener's Letter "...your programme really is a "breakthrough" in radio broadcasting. Among the milieu of mediocrity and banality abounding on BBC Radio's 1 & 2, "Breakthrough" is a breath of fresh air."
Jayne R Law Listener's Letter John Peel on Breakthrough"Last Tuesday I had one of the most encouraging radio experiences I've had since the original Radio London was closed down. The new Radio London has given over several hours of each Tuesday evening to Steve Bradshaw and have called the result "Breakthrough", which is a singularly suitable title. What Steve and Breakthough are doing is almost exactly the kind of thing I wish I were doing for Radio 1.
When I got to the studio no one seemed too sure what was going to happen - which is a good start, as with most programmes you know exactly what's going to happen weeks before the event, which, naturally, makes listening unnecessary. During the broadcast Steve played and reviewed several records, spoke with listeners on the phone and read out from extensive lists of forthcoming rock gigs. The phone calls were often quite lengthy, were broadcast live rather than recorded and edited into neat, predigestible packages, and the conversations were relevant and interesting. After several years of the curious phone calls on the Jimmy Young show I'd almost forgotten that listeners are indeed sentient beings.
Steve permitted me to sit and chatter at great length about all manner of things. I managed to get a lot of stuff off my chest that I've been yearning to pour into a microphone for some time and I'm grateful to "Breakthrough" for that and for reminding me what an exciting medium radio is still capable of being."
John Peel Disc and Music Echo 1971 Honky TonkOriginal producer of Charlie's show. BBC Radio London "Dust off your drapes and prise those crepe soles from the bottom of the wardrobe: at last a radio show devoted to rock 'n' roll. The show is presented by Charlie Gillett and produced by Steve Bradshaw..."
Time Out Sounds of the SeventiesDJ, BBC Radio One "For the last 3 years of my life I have been searching for the track you were playing, Dylan Live in Liverpool 1966..."
Jane Chaloner, Holy Family Convent School, Listener's Letter File on Fourreporter, BBC Radio 4 "A team of three producers and a couple of brilliant young reporters, David Henshaw and Steve Bradshaw..."
And Now on Radio 4: A 40th Birthday Celebration of the World's Best Radio by Simon Elmes (2007) "A recent BBC File on Four examined community arts as 'the new orthodoxy'...the programme then naughtily broadcast a lot of quotes from people reacting unfavourably to community arts. 'I was a figure of contempt and hatred,' said Vernon Scannell..."
The Guardian "File on Four has developed a narrative style and an editorial attitude which puts it far ahead of other news analysis programmes. Six months after you've heard "File on Four" do a story, other programmes on television as well as radio will be chasing the ragged edges of the same theme for the first time with a fraction of the clarity and grasp."
Gillian Reynolds "...a quite exciting investigation - by Steve Bradshaw - into the confusions surrounding the government's pay policy"
Mary Kenny, The Spectator "Steve Bradshaw did some useful reporting on the spot... rebel leaders in Baluchistan said unkind things about General Zia and the Americans... Zia's regime may well be as nasty as they say, but it didn't want, or wasn't able to stop Bradshaw collecting some spicy interviews."
Paul Ferris, The Observer "There was a perfectly extraordinary story on "File on 4", Radio 4's valuable news background programme, last Wednesday night. It was all about the hidden economy... Steve Bradshaw's story would have opened your eyes... "File on 4" is always worth a listen, but last week it really made radio reporting sound alive again."
Gillian Reyolds, Daily Telegraph "I've never seen a television programme as interesting or as useful as last month's File on Four... This particular item about Ulster was head and shoulders above anything I've seen or heard for a long time because it told you how ordinary people survived and it revealed some original developments... File on Four also uncovered another story which has far been untouched elsewhere... tells you so much more than seeing John Hume and Enoch Powell quarrel over the definition of the word 'partition' in a studio."
Mary Kenny, The Spectator "Are they watching you?... Steve Bradshaw's inquiry in File on 4 reported usefully on the blank walls that protect the process of government from prying journalists and citizens..."
Paul Ferris, The Observer Groundswell... presenter, BBC Radio 4"It has been observed in this column before now that when the BBC takes its advisory duties too seriously, when Auntie turns watchdog, the results can be ludicrous. Nonetheless, there are two new advice or information programmes that ought to be welcomed straightaway for their lack of pomposity. The first of these is Groundswell, Radio 4's innovatory Friday-morning programme programme on ecological topics, presented by Stephen Bradshaw. If the introductory number was anything to go by, this promises to put across information of the utmost importance, but without the Jeremiah-like doominess that is so often its concomitant and can be so alienating. This was a thoughtful and nicely balanced piece of magazine production..."
The Listener (1982) Newsweek... reporter/presenter BBC 2"Without in any way disparaging those stalwarts who report on matters of great political moment, it's nice to welcome Steve Bradshaw as presenter of Newsweek - if only because he's well this side of 40, likes rock music, and doesn't need much make-up. He comes to the programme from radio's File on 4, and he was invited to do that from a scathing criticism he wrote of it in The Listener. So he gives the lie to that disgraceful idea that journalists merely carp because they can't do the job themselves."
Radio Times (1980) The Politics of the Bomb (1981)" 'Neutralism' is first given that label by the media....The nearest we have as yet got to any crisp presentation of it was a crisp piece of TV journalism by Steve Bradshaw."
EP Thompson, The Guardian "...Newsweek put the facts before us in such a clear way that even I could understand it - and nuclear jargon generally loses me in a half-sentence..."
Mary Kenny, Daily Mail Spend, Spend, Spend"a well-balanced and ably-presented discussion of Keynesian and monetarist theories..."
David Zucconi, Letter to The Listener Lost Generation (1981)"I don't know whether hon. Members watched a BBC programme on television the other night showing articulate, intelligent, frustrated, angry and alienated young people expressing their views. What kind of society are the Government attempting to build for us all and for them? If we are not careful, these people will represent a lost generation."
Former PM Rt. Hon James Callaghan MP, Hansard 1981 People and Power- reporter BBC 1"an amusing film on political speechwriters..."
Peter Riddell, Financial Times (1983) "Thank you for your excellent films for People & Power.The initial series of films about professionals in politics helped establish the slant of the whole programme and I know it did a great deal to win over specialist viewers. All your films had good original material..."
Editor, Richard Tait Newsnight... reporter/co-presenter BBC 2"The first meeting of the new Omagh District Council ended in uproar...When a film crew from BBC TV Newsnight came into the chamber at the end of the meeting, DUP councillors produced an Ulster flag, resulting in a general melee as emotions ran high..." "Row Erupts as Sinn Fein Take Over on New Council"
Tyrone Constitution (1985) "The most haunting item I saw this week was Steve Bradshaw's report from Upper Volta on Newsnight. The pictures of dying babies, children deformed from famine and drought - and mismanagement by international banking which lies behind so much of this - have remained with me insistently."
Mary Kenny, Daily Mail (1984) "...the BBC's excellent Newsnight programme revealed that one Conservative MP, ...forgot to register his interest in a public relations company lobbying against the Channel fixed link and that another Tory MP...who gets £8,500 a year as consultant to the Channel Tunnel Group, cast the decisive vote for its scheme in the Transport Select Committee."
MPs Must Come Clean on Lobbyists - Leader, The Observer "All year I have been finding a good deal of pleasure in his reports - which have something of the informality of Time Out - in Newsnight..."
The Listener Panorama... reporter/correspondent/presenter, BBC 1RSPCA (1982)"It was clear from the start that Mr Bradshaw was in no mood to pussyfoot around, and that he was gunning for the 'old guard' of the RSPCA... Even so, you got the feeling that even under a more benign interrogator, the RSPCA would still have come out of it looking complacent, self-protective and not a little shame-faced. The Society, in other words, deserved the grilling it got last night."
Herbert Kretzmer, Daily Mail Children in Need (1989)Mr (Tony) Banks: Did the Prime Minister see "Panorama" last night, which showed the Salvation Army handing out stale bread on council estates in Scotland? When will the Prime Minister come out from that bullet-proof Daimler...to see the stale bread society that she is creating for millions of people?
The Prime Minister (Mrs Thatcher):.. I must say to the hon. Gentleman that I thought his comment was a great insult to the Salvation Army.
Hansard "Heavy mailbag good read except for one man who refers to you as a monkey... Sally Army are inundated with parcels."
BBC telex "Your programme on Children in Need was clear-sighted revelatory and did full justice to the complexity of the problems uncovered. It was also moving and thought-provoking. Well done."
John Birt, Head of BBC News and Current Affairs Death in the Rainforest (1989)"Abandoning the coded language of diplomacy for direct reference to Brazil and its people, the Prime Minister said they had to be persuaded to call a halt to the cutting and burning of the rain forest...her statement was one of several she made which astonished environmentalists by the strength of their "green" content... Mrs Thatcher made her direct references to Brazil when a Norwegian journalist referred to Monday's Panorama programme on BBC 1 on rain-forest destruction and asked if she would put extra pressure on Brazil to stop it."
Michael McCarthy, The Times "If you wondered why countries like Brazil don't take too much interest in our sudden concern for ozone holes and greenhouse effects, you need to look no further than Steve Bradshaw's report Death in the Rainforest..."
Hugh Hebert, The Guardian "In an excellent and formidable "Panorama" programme, it was asserted that if last year's burning season was repeated, the rain forest would be gone in 20 years."
Tam Dalyell MP, Hansard Football (1989)"Panorama turned a beady eye on the management of professional football in Britain and found it in the hands of a freemasonry of complacent buffoons...Shots of the public toilets at Newcastle United's grounds spoke volumes... All of which explained why the Prime Minister has it in for the clubs, and led inexorably to the conclusion that British football's troubles stem ultimately from a failure of management. It's a persuasive case..."
John Naughton, The Observer "Pele was railing against corruption, greed and the disregard for the very fans who made the sport so lucrative..."
Joe Joseph, The Times Bunking Off (1990)"...a chilling report about the level of education we can expect from our future adult population."
Jane O'Gorman, Today "...a crash course on how to make a telling documentary... never bored the eye or ear for a second. With the adroit interviewer Stephen Bradshaw as our mouthpiece, we zoomed from disaffected pupils to parents, teachers... The kindly idea is that children who play truant "are not feckless miscreants but dissatisfied customers."
Bevis Hillier, Evening Standard "...did some bleak homework... Stephen Bradshaw's intelligent report reached no happy conclusion..."
Sheridan Morley, The Times "...investigates allegations that the facts about truancy have been suppressed..."
The Guardian Bad Medicine (1992)"How good is your surgeon? If you live in Britain, no one will tell you... a brilliant and spine-chilling Panorama."
Polly Toynbee, Radio Times "But it was last night's Panorama which hit the nail on the head with its oft-repeated question: If the Government decrees that there should be league tables to ensure parents to judge which schools they wish to send their children to, why should here not be league tables enabling patients to choose the hospitals and individual surgeons they are expected to entrust their lives to?... Panorama had plenty of examples of malpractice, often resulting in tragedy, which occur because doctors are just not boned up on the latest information..."
Peter Paterson, Daily Mail Why Pay for Auntie (1992)"It is easy to dismiss Panorama as being dust-dry and lacking the edge of World in Action. This is for the simple reason that it is often just so. However this week's oft-delayed report on the future of the BBC was admirably straight-forward and thorough in the way it handled the complicated issue of what should become of the BBC. Reporter Steve Bradshaw had the tricky task of interviewing John Birt... He asked his boss no-nonsense questions..."
Julian Cole "Panorama considered the future of the BBC, a ticklish subject at the best of times and a positively explosive one at the moment. Still, reporter Steve Bradshaw probably had a freer hand than other Panorama hacks have enjoyed under the current BBC regime, if only because it would not do for John Birt to be seen trampling over journalistic freedoms..."
Observer Getting Away with Murder (1993)"The Panorama team, unlike the US and British governments, went for the jugular."
David Macaulay, Western Morning News "The British government is suppressing evidence of genocide, organised rape and other war crimes in Bosnia, senior former US officials claimed today... the officials made their claims in a report on tonight's Panorama on BBC 1."
Roger Williams, Press Association "A shameful story."
Daily Mail An Ordinary Boy (1993 - co-writer, narration and main interview - produced by John Bridcut)"...the most moving edition I have ever seen. I have also never seen a programme which gave so clear a picture of the causes of the troubles in Northern Ireland, I thought you handled the film and Tim's parents extremely sensitively."
Tony Hall, Head of BBC News and Current Affairs "...captured the despair and bewilderment of ordinary people..."
Grierson Award Runner-Up citation Fair Cops (1993)"...Steve Bradshaw's Fair Cops report for last night's Panorama produced disturbing evidence that having fair cops will mean many fewer convictions..."
Daily Telegraph Pulp Future (1993)"Drug battles in the favelas, fighting between Italian police and Albanian refugees, and severed heads and limbs paraded in the anarchy of war-torn Sierra Leone were all featured on this week's edition of BBC's Panorama. It used these images to unveil a terrifying vision of the future - that of Martin Van Creveld, the Israeli military analyst... Every piece of news about terrorism, narco-crime, violent fundamentalism, even serial killing adds authenticity to the Creveld vision."
John Keegan, Daily Telegraph 23/3/95 "An unnecessarily handsome reporter called Bradshaw roamed the planet to the accompaniment of doomy music pointing to evidence that the whole place is turning into a Mad Max movie... the closing minutes saw Bradshaw back-pedalling frantically. Bradshaw obviously has a point when he says that wars of the future will not involve states so much as disaffected terrorists and fanatics, but the air of broad-brush doominess made his report feel strangely unreliable."
Stephen Pile, Daily Telegraph 25/3/95 A Culture of Murder (1994)"Panorama forced its way though a haze of "compassion fatigue" with a searing programme on the camps in Goma. Unlike most of the reporters who have covered the plight of the refugees, Stephen Bradshaw tried to find out what was going on in the midst of those teeming, huddled masses."
John Naughton, The Observer Blair's Britain (1994)"The interviewer was driving the car while interviewing Tony Blair... I suggest this form of interview be barred from public roads."
Letter from Viewer in Bradshaw Hall Drive, Bolton (sic) The Breast Cancer Lottery (1994)"Doctors are at their arrogant worst in this film in which reporter Steve Bradshaw tries to find out why Britain has high rates of breast cancer and low rates of survival..."
The Independent "The Panorama programme revealed disturbing new evidence of poor diagnosis and late or incorrect treatment."
Exeter Express "a shocking TV documentary... hard-hitting"
Cambridge (UK) Town Crier "I usually avoid Panorama. The melodramatic film. The corny graphics. The whey-faced reporters. The awful sanctimoniousness of it all. But I have to say I was rather hooked by Steve Bradshaw's sensitive piece on breast cancer... "
Evening Standard "A hard hitting documentary."
David Siddall, Whitehaven News "A powerful piece of television."
Alison Handley, Coventry Evening Telegraph "Disturbing new evidence of poor diagnosis and late or incorrect treatment... Last night's hard-hitting BBC 1 Panorama documentary charted the histories of three women with breast cancer who all feel that poor diagnosis and delayed treatment has robbed them of a long life."
Lisa Sewards, Daily Express Report from Needle Paradise (1994)"...as people who watched last night's BBC Panorama will have seen, current British policy is in shambles. Last night a Chief Constable, Keith Hellawell of West Yorkshire, admitted frankly that "current policies are not working" and became the first officer of his rank to float the idea of legalisation"
Guardian leader (Mr Hellawell - later Tony Blair's "drug czar" - did not call for legalisation) "...excellent documentary on Monday's Panorama... delved into crime and poverty... showed the extent to which the drug culture both nourishes and criminalises the community..."
Simon Jenkins, The Times "Last night's depressing Panorama was a shock to the system..."
Adrian Troughton, Yorkshire Evening Post "It's not often you see a chief constable chatting away about soft drugs and burglary. But last night's Panorama was extraordinary. A brazen young man, boasting of his exploits to the nation at large while our chief constable, Keith Hellawell, listened... the genie is now out of the bottle. Mr Hellawell, rapidly becoming a media star, is at the leading edge, posing tricky questions..."
Yorkshire Evening Post "...Panorama bravely takes its cameras where no crew has gone before, to expose the severity of the problem."
Buckingham Advertiser "The Chief Constable of South Yorkshire's views on cannabis, to be broadcast this evening on BBC1, are already causing a storm..."
Northampton Chronicle Private Future (1996)"Tony Blair referred in a speech to the Blade Runner scenario"....While Mr Blair was making his speech, the BBC happened to be showing a programme about 21st century Britain. It was not science fiction but a Panorama special on the welfare state... the best moments in the Panorama film were the shocked faces when the well-off British couples discovered that a full private welfare package would cost £1,500-£2,000 a month. That's more than the average wage... Britain in the 21st century is no longer science fiction. It is the fate that awaits children now going through school. It is our duty not to bequeath them a Blade Runner society."
John Williams, Daily Mirror Have They Got News For You (1996)"Alastair Campbell, the Labour leader's press secretary, launched a pre-emptive strike against a Panorama programme to be shown next Monday... Mr Campbell yesterday stood by his attack on the corporation, which could signal a repeat of Harold Wilson's deep suspicion of it. Speaking on BBC radio yesterday, Mr Campbell kept up the onslaught on the Panorama film, which has not yet been finished, saying: "What I don't want is the start of Labour conference dominated by a great hoo-ha about Labour Party spin-doctors." ...Mr Campbell became irritated with the Panorama team when he discovered that reporter Steve Bradshaw was being filmed while on the telephone to Mr Blair's office. In his Sunday Times article yesterday he said "senior sources" in the BBC had told him Panorama was "hoping I eventually get so fed up being harassed that I thump its reporter"."
John Rentoul, The Independent "BBC publicity chiefs must be rubbing their hands at the advance coverage of Monday's Panorama on spin doctors, particularly following the Sunday Times' tantrum from Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's media man, over the programme."
PR Week The Dome (1998)"A sarcastic Panorama on Mandy's beloved Dome project..."
Private Eye World Cup (1998)...a brilliant British Panorama program... if you wanted to see reporting turned into an art form, this was it... reporter Steve Bradshaw and his team did a tremendous job, the overall theme being: "The World Cup is not being run for the passionate many but for the privileged few."... the scandals go on and on... this documentary is a must for anyone even vaguely interested in fair play."
Mike Gandon, Illawarra Mercury The Bloody Tricolour (1998) - Panorama Special"...made a good case that France had much to be ashamed of in its involvement in that country - bolstering the regime even after its murderous instincts had become plain. It also made a good case that the French government, at least, has no intention of feeling any shame at all."
Thomas Sutcliffe, The Independent "I expect the BBC will receive a strong protest from the French government over Steve Bradshaw's excellent Panorama special report on Rwanda. It exposed President Mitterand's duplicity in backing the corrupt military dictatorship of President Juvenal Habyarimana during Rwanda's civil war."
Daily Express Boys Behind Bars (2001)"As an indictment of the British state's inhumane treatment of minors, this was bang to rights."
Daily Express "You might be tempted to think a do-gooder BBC crew had exaggerated the place's problems, but most of the criticism came in measured tones from such people as a former Feltham doctor, a former assistant governor, and a prison officer."
The Times September 11th - A Warning from Hollywood (2002)"...enjoyable, well-researched but slightly unhinged documentary..."
New Statesman "A Warning from Hollywood compellingly shows how often and with what striking specificity fiction proved eerily prophetic."
Sunday Times "...a point first noted in the prestigious British documentary series "Panorama": Hollywood writers have been more prescient on the nature and origins of contemporary terrorism than any Western intelligence agency."
Tim Rutten, LA Times Viewers... "Excellent programme!"
Eugène B. Haarlem, Holland "I loved the programme as I thought it provoked debate... Very spooky."
B Garrick, Lewisham "WOW, programme was good..."
Bill Windsor "Remember the name of the town in Florida in which five or six of the terrorists decided to set up their base? It was called Hollywood..."
Colin, Cambridge, UK Queen Camilla (2002)"If what you are seeking is a balanced portrayal of the Charles/Camilla 'Should they, shouldn't they?' conundrum, then seek no further. Drawing on the adroit comparison between Charles's constitutional quandaries and those of his 'wild' ancestor Edward VIII, this skilful programme deftly guides us through the relevant arguments and laws. Interspersed with some charming anecdotes and tabloid stories - allegedly Camilla is often referred to as 'the Queen' by her nearest and dearest - it is very watchable. Panorama is hitting the headlines week after week."
The Observer The War Party (2003)"An eye-opening investigation into America's neo-conservatives...a scary new brand of imperialism."
Observer "This illuminating edition of the investigation show asks whether the neo-conservatives have hijacked US foreign policy. Reporter Steve Bradshaw has spent the last two months mingling with neo-cons... The programme reveals that the hard right were pushing for a strike against Iraq even before 9/11. Now they are coldly eyeing up other nations..."
The Independent on Sunday "the programme - about the irresistible rise of the neoconservatives - managed to be reasonably even-handed."
Clive Davis, The Washington Times The Case against War (2003)"...subtly persuasive... I don't think (George Bush) Junior would like this program, a report from Steve Bradshaw of the BBC's Panorama, as it effectively accuses him of empire-building at the expense of rationality...This is an important program..."
Michael Smith, The Melbourne Age Sex and the Holy City (2003)"... a shocking...report..."
Humo, Belgium "made headlines across the world"
Miami Herald "..devastating..."
Stephen Crittenden, The Religion Report, ABC Radio Australia "Steve Bradshaw's brilliant Panorama...Visiting the Philippines, Nicaragua and Kenya, he found the catastrophic effect of the church's teaching on contraception causing widespread death across Asia, Africa and Latin America."
Polly Toynbee in The Guardian "made the international news... thorough research resulted in a scoop with far-reaching consequences."
NRC Handelsblad "You will realize we are right the second after you breathe your last breath..."
Anonymous viewer's letter The Dollar a Day Dress (2005)"...the programme was a triumph... the "Dollar a Day Dress" looked fantastic..."
Kevin Cahill, Chief Executive Red Nose Day Lawful Impediment (2005)"On 14 February the BBC's Panorama uncovered documents of official legislative research advice dating from 1956 and 1964, which stated that it was not lawful for members of the royal family to marry in a civil ceremony in England and Wales."
Wikipedia entry Dead Mums Don't Cry (2005)"The video "Dead Mums Don't Cry" left me in tears."
Jane Roberts, Maxims News Network The issues are illustrated beautifully, through several heart-wrenching cases..."
Lori Widzinski, University of Buffalo "Gorman was so moved by the Panorama programme, Dead Mums Don't Cry, that she contacted the producer to find out how her UNISON branch could help... And with that phone call began a chain of events that would see Gorman flying to Chad to meet Kodindo. The producer put her in touch with other viewers who also wanted to help and over time the charity Hope for Grace Kodindo was formed and it has raised money to provide the essential drugs and equipment for Kodindo's hospital. Gorman also managed to make direct contact with Kodindo who was ecstatic about the response."
UNISON magazine "This is by far the best film on maternal mortality I have ever seen."
Deborah Maine, Ph.D., Professor of International Health, Boston University "...brought the issue of maternal mortality to television screens in places as far away as Yemen."
Nikole Miller, Human Rights Quarterly August 2008 Viewers... "What an amazingly moving programme."
Charlotte, Croydon "A brilliant programme... Grace is an amazing woman - long may she keep fighting."
Jennifer Titmuss, Cambridge, UK "What a programme!"
Osric Tening Forton, Brighton, UK "Let's hope the G8 were watching!"
Ruth, Bristol A Right Royal Shambles (2006)One royal source said, "No-one is happy this programme is being made. But it's a free country and there's nothing you can do to stop anyone who wants to do this."
National press story The High Price of Gas (2006)"Bradshaw's exemplary journalism and commitment to his programmes suggest that this could be more interesting than you might think."
Sarah Hughes, The Observer Front-Line/Panorama... reporter/presenterThe Triumph of Evil (UK: When Good Men Do Nothing - 1999)"Nothing in recent years has disturbed me as much as the PBS documentary, "The Triumph of Evil," which aired last week. ...It should be mandatory for all spin doctors, political flacks and self-righteous political aides to watch the documentary to absorb the lesson of the terrible consequences of bureaucratic babble taken to horrifying extremes..."
Colin Vaughan, Toronto Star "A devastating documentary... more evidence of the 15-year old "Frontline" being unquestionably the medium's best source for investigative documentaries..."The Triumph of Evil" is a sober, systematic report that, while mesmerizing, penetrates to the bone without deploying false sentiment to juice emotion and manipulate viewers. On a human level, though, its overlapping of words and pictures has a heartaching impact."
Howard Rosenberg, LA Times "In this harrowing hour, reporter Steve Bradshaw's third documentary about the genocide in Rwanda, it was revealed that the United Nations first ignored warnings of genocide, then pretended that genocide wasn't really happening, and finally when the massacres began to become public the UN Security Council made hollow promises to stop the butchery. For providing a timely reminder in tribute to its victims, and for offering a stirring rebuke to those who failed to act in time..."
Peabody Award citation "This strong indictment..."
Walter Goodman, New York Times "You need a strong stomach to watch "Frontline's" brutally graphic account... the edgy, bitter documentary will help you understand..."
Bill Steigerwald Online, Post-Gazette "The most vivid and revealing report on how this genocide could have been prevented - or at least cut short."
Nat Hentoff, Washington Post "Chilling."
The Observer "...a sick-making horror story... methodically reported, clearly-developed... persuasively detailed... It's hard to imagine that if large audiences viewed reports like this, changes in policy wouldn't follow."
John Koch, Boston Globe "The usual business of Panorama is current affairs rather than history but it breaks with this tradition tonight to mount an angry post mortem on the Rwandan genocide of 1994."
The Times "When Good Men Do Nothing is an extraordinary report... stark, fair and probing... the nearly hour-long documentary should be purchased by colleges and high schools throughout the world and shown to illustrate how political cowardice has allowed genocide back into the world community..."
Judges Commendation ICIJ Award Correspondent ... correspondent/presenterFrom Pakistan to Park Lane (via Ilford) - (1999)"Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly Mian Abdul Waheed, terming the BBC film campaign against the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the government as a planned move to destabilize the country... warned that if BBC did not give up the irresponsible and partial attitude, then Pakistan would lodge a protest with the British government besides trying it in the International Court of Justice."
NNI "In the bazaars of Lahore and Karachi a bootleg video is selling merrily at around £3 copy. But this is not the usual "Bollywood" rip-off. It is a pirate copy of a BBC documentary... the investigative documentary was highly critical... Najam Sethi, the editor of the Friday Times, was later picked up from his home, beaten and held without charge... the allegations contained in the programme have been fed back to Pakistan and made front pages..."
Amit Roy, Daily Telegraph (London) "...a special investigative report by BBC correspondent Steve Bradshaw... Prior to the airing of the documentary, the Nawaz regime undertook a widespread attack on the press in Pakistan, arresting, intimidating and jailing many reporters who had assisted the BBC team."
Dawn Wire Service One-off TV & radio documentariesMurder on Embassy Row....reporter/presenter, Radio 4 - 1999"...probes a horrific crime that brought international terrorism to the heart of America's capital.... taught and tightly constructed, the programme is undeniably compelling. Anyone would conclude that there are questions for Pinochet to answer. It is an effective case for the prosecution. But the defence is simply not heard at all..."
Paul Donovan, Sunday Times The Real Life on Mars... writer, narrator, co-producer BBC 4 (2008)"an intelligent and enlightening documentary... the opening salvo in BBC 4's new Brit Cop season..."
Brian Viner, The Independent "..a revealing and illuminating insight into a world that's been all but forgotten".
Sky - What to Watch Crime Scene Conman (2008).....reporter"...fascinating Crime Scene Conman... wisely avoided po-facedness and settled instead for just the right tone of deadpan comedy."
James Walton, Daily Telegraph Cafe Society - Author... published by Weidenfeld in 1978 "...fascinating and excellently-researched..."
Arthur Marshall, Sunday Telegraph "...ambitious... a text which shows evidence of considerable reading and an intelligent interest in the subject... he has diligently dug up less well-known material as well and catches some of the effervescence and hectic variety of his subject..."
Philip Ziegler, The Times "... lively and informative..."
Ruth Jordan BBC World Service "entertaining..."
Adelaide Advertiser "...intriguing... amusing..."
The Times of South Africa "...elegaic yet admirable... both learned and knowledgeable".
The Scotsman "...a good subject for a book and the author has risen to the occasion with skill... this well-researched record recaptures the scene perfectly."
The Bookseller "...such a lively account that the reader is almost an eye-witness..."
Wouter Hariot "...eloquent... evocative, witty and highly readable..."
Christopher McIntosh, Country Life "...fascinatingly wide research..."
Derek Stanford, Birmingham Post "... gives a fresh twist to an old kaleidoscope... should arouse fresh interest in an old subject."
E.R. Chamberlin, Surrey Advertiser Citations etcRwanda: A Culture of Murder, The Bloody Tricolour, The Triumph of Evil/ When Good Men Do Nothing,Rwanda 94: le theatre face au genocide- Bernard Debroux 2001 La nuit rwandaise: l'implication francaise dans le dernier genocide du siècle - Jean-Paul Gouteux - 2002 Holocaust and the moving image: representations in film and television since... Silent accomplice: the untold story of France's role in the Rwandan genocide Silent accomplice: the untold story of France's role in the Rwandan genocide: Andrew Wallis - 2006 Tabloid tales: global debates over media standards -? Colin Sparks, John Tulloch 2000 Investigative Journalism ? - Hugo de Burgh, Paul Bradshaw (sic) 2008 Shooting the messenger; the political impact of war reporting - Paul L Moorcraft Under the counter and over the border: aspects of the contemporary trade in Illicit Arms... Des crimes contre l'humanité en République française (1990-2002) - By Catherine Coquio, Carol Guillaume 2006 Hotel Rwanda: bringing the true story of an African hero to film - By Terry George, Keir Pearson 2005 Liberation theology and sexuality - By Marcella Althaus-Reid 2006 Eyewitness to a genocide: the United Nations and Rwanda - By Michael N. Barnett 2003 A Warning from HollywoodSkyscraper Cinema: Architecture and Gender in American Film - By Merrill Schleier p 341 (comparison with Zizek's "Welcome to the Desert of the Real) The Power of Premonitions: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives by Larry Dossey The hidden history of 9-11-2001 by Paul Zarembka Visual impact: culture and the meaning of images - By Terence Wright (but attributed to an R Pollack) The photography handbook - By Terence Wright (ditto) New Issues in Refugee Research Collateral Coverage - By Terence Wright (ditto) September 11 As "Machiavellian State Terror" by D MacGregor Life - The Ongoing StoryHuman rights in the world community: issues and action - By Richard Pierre Claude, Burns H. Weston 2006 Sex and the Holy CityDemography: Analysis and Synthesis, Four Volume Set: A Treatise in ..., Volume 1 - By Graziella Caselli, Guillaume J. Wunsch The War PartyIrwin Stelzer - Neoconservatism Lawful ImpedimentKing & country: monarchy and the future King Charles III - Robert Blackburn 2006 |
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